Speaking of The Shadow, the excellent new book The Shadowed Circle Compendium reminded me of a trip a few years ago, when I stopped in on Dennis McMillan during a period he lived in Gallup, New Mexico.
Dennis had access to a small but packed basement book warehouse, and could sell me stuff if I wanted it.
The only specific title I recall that caught my eye was Will Murray’s The Duende History of The Shadow Magazine — one of the first and still ranked among the best books on the pulp avenger.
Problem was that this copy had been caught in a fire at some point. The book survived complete destruction. It was intact. The horrible edge scorching didn’t quite get all the way in to the text. But it smelled like a burnt house.
I offered five dollars for it. A nice copy could go for a hundred, even two hundred or more. But this copy was burnt.
For five bucks I was willing to keep it sealed in plastic, open it up for reading only outside on the patio, handle it with disposable nitrile gloves.
I think Dennis was insulted. The book was a collectors item!
Well, yeah. But it was burnt.
